The New York Post-office
Conceive, if you can, an organization that is incessantly and perpetually going at top speed; that knows not a moment of rest the year round, or generation after generation; which never sleeps, nor pauses, nor hesitates; that disposes each day of a mountain of 14,300,000 pieces of ordinary mail, or more than any other office in the world; that does a parcel-post business that makes the business of the express companies seem small in comparison; that handles in excess of 41,500,000 pieces of registered mail each year; that issues nearly four million money-orders annually, and pays over seventeen million more; that, as a mere side issue does a banking business which is exceeded by but a few banks in the whole State; that has in its safe custody the savings of approximately 140,000 depositors, amounting to more than $44,000,000; that employs an army of 15,000 men and women; that occupies one of the largest buildings in the city, two blocks in length, and then overflows into approximately fifty annexes, called "Classified Stations," and nearly 200 sub-annexes, called "Contract Stations"; that has receipts in excess of $52,000,000 per annum; that has doubled its business in ten years. Having conceived this, you will begin to get some idea of the New York post-office, the biggest thing of its kind in the world and still growing.
The average man's conception of a post-office includes little more than an impression of a letter-carrier in a gray uniform; a mail wagon recently dodged by a narrow margin; a post-office station somewhere in his neighborhood, and a hazy picture of a dingy place in which men sometimes post letters. Of the details of the organization aside from these things, the extent and complexities of the service, or how it accomplishes what it does, or of the executive experts operating the system, he knows practically nothing. He is aware, it is true, that letters are collected and that letters are delivered, and that continents and oceans may divide the sender and addressee; but by what mystic methods delivery is accomplished he has never stopped to think. Yet the organization that lies behind the words "New York post-office" is one of the most complex, efficient, and interesting in the world, and yet it operates with a simplicity and a smoothness that betoken master design and perfection of detail.
The Postmaster
At the head of this great organization and directing its every movement, watching its development, adjusting its activities, is one of the most experienced and efficient postal experts in America, in the person of Postmaster Edward M. Morgan, whose interesting statement is included at the head of this section.
Mr. Morgan entered the postal service in 1873 as a letter-carrier, at the foot of the ladder, and by an industry that was tireless and force of character he worked his way up, round after round, to the very top. In the course of his long public service he transferred from the carrier force to the clerical force, and then graduated from this to the supervisory ranks, discharging each successive grade with conspicuous ability. His several titles in the course of this career were: carrier, clerk, chief clerk, superintendent of stations, superintendant of delivery, assistant postmaster, acting postmaster, postmaster. He was first appointed postmaster by President Roosevelt, and reappointed by President Taft. For an interval during President Wilson's administration he was out of office, but was reappointed by President Harding. With such a record of progress and experience it is very evident that he must "know the game," but if one knows nothing of his history, and meets him for a few minutes, his grasp of detail and vision of opportunity for future development become at once apparent.
Postmaster Morgan has gathered around him as his heads of divisions a corps of enthusiastic aides who have grown up in the service under his tutelage, and each of whom has advanced step by step under the keenest competition, demonstrating his competency for the position he fills by the satisfactory manner in which he has discharged the duties of the position of lower rank. Among his aides there are no amateurs; all have been tried for a generation or more in positions of varying and increasing importance, and they have stood the test; they are recognized the country over as postal experts, and the work they are doing and the efficiency they are showing are proof that their reputations are well merited.
The Organisation of the New York Post-office
Next in rank to the postmaster are the assistant postmaster and the acting assistant postmaster, the first at the head of the financial divisions and miscellaneous executive departments, and the second at the head of various divisions engaged in handling the mails proper.
